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IBM to implement blockchain to supply chain of medicines in China

by
saramago

The Chinese business group Sichuan Hejia has established a commercial alliance with IBM to launch a blockchain platform applied to the medicine supply chain, named after the Yijian Blockchain Technology Application System and using the Fabric protocol of the Hyperledger project.

The main objective is to provide transparency to medicine distribution networks, in addition to protecting marketing data and authenticating each transaction more quickly, as the financing of pharmaceutical companies and distributors in the country is being affected by having waiting up to three months for the payment from the health care institutions.

This aspect is explained in the official statement of IBM: "Small and medium distributors in China find it very difficult to collect their funds as a result of a poorly developed credit system and a lack of risk and control assessment. For example, you could take a pharmaceutical distributor for 60 to 90 days without receiving payment after giving medicines to hospitals. Without having these records and not meeting standards, they find it difficult to obtain loans from traditional institutions."

Leng Tianhui, Hejia board member, said that in the future this blockchain service will be extended to other industries, companies and financial institutions, for the economic development of China. Likewise, Gregor Pillen, Manager of IBM Greater China Group Global Business Services, stated with full confidence in blockchain technology that would help to transform China economically.